Some sad news

My strictures against my one-time newspaper of choice do not extend to its excellent crosswords. Veteran setter Araucaria, alias the Rev John Graham of Cambridge, has used a puzzle to announce that he is dying of cancer. May God bless you, "friendly vicar", you've been a blessing to many people for many years.

Four weeks are a long time...

The Guardian has a reaction to the apotheosis of Mr Galloway from one Lanre Bakare, a young columnist who hails, appropriately, from Bradford. No triumphalism here, and I can't argue with this:-

Galloway's brand of politics seeks to play on tensions which exist in this type of community and it's doubtful his presence will do much to help the city rid itself of the tag "most segregated in the UK".

But can this be the same Lanre Bakare who, when Channel 4 screened "Make Bradford British", was wheeled out to protest against the reinforcing of racial stereotypes?

Bradford does have problems and a racial divide is one of them. But there are other issues we risk not seeing until a flash point forces people to stop viewing Bradford as a single-issue city.

I fear Mr Bakare has just been outvoted - and knows it.

Egg? What egg?

What kind of person thinks that Muslims shouldn't serve in an army that's fighting the Taliban, and that Jews shouldn't be permitted to reproduce - and makes both points with a revolver?

It's hardly a question to baffle a Clouseau, never mind a Maigret. Once it became clear that Toulouse wasn't hosting a gunmen's convention, I'd have said "neo-Nazi" was a 50-to-1 shot, and "apolitical nut job" more like 200-to-1.

Of course it's always a good idea to wait until you have some facts before rushing to judgment, otherwise you could end up looking extremely silly. Not, however, that this fate could overtake anyone delivering an ex cathedra verdict on behalf of the World's Most Righteous Newspaper: Fiachra Gibbons said Sarkozy was to blame, and you can be sure that he feels amply vindicated.

I see that last year "Turkey specialist" Gibbons offered the Guardian a piece on "10 of the best films set in Istanbul". Apparently none of them deal with the city's synagogues. Quelle surprise.

The Messiah: exclusive photo and interview

Vastly entertaining front page of the Grauniad today. What a very naughty thing to do to to shy, retiring Dr Fraser.

Actually the interview is by no means lacking in good sense, albeit with a generous helping of cant mixed in. E.g.:-

I mean, if you looked around and you tried to recreate where Jesus would be born – for me, I could imagine Jesus being born in the camp.

What a thing it is to have a vivid imagination. Nobody much seems to be spending the night in those tents, never mind giving birth.

Then there's this:-

"Money is the number one moral issue in the Bible and the way the Church of England goes on you would think it was sex,"

Dear me, I must have been going to the wrong churches during my time in the C of E.

As for the guff about rediscovering the Incarnation in Bethnal Green, this is a man whose career so far has included an Oxford college chaplaincy, the cure of souls in Putney and, of course, one of the plum jobs at St. Paul's. There are, I believe, plenty of vacancies in inner-city parishes, but when he asserts that "Christianity is one of the most materialistic of the world's religions" he is perhaps revealing rather more about Giles Fraser than he intended. I'd love to know what Trollope would have made of the whole business.

If you want a more humbug-free Anglican voice I recommend George Carey.

One question raised by pro-protest commenters on Carey's piece is "what does St Paul's need £20,000 a day for?". The obvious answer is of course "to maintain one of the finest buildings in Britain", but there's an even more fundamental one, namely "none of your business". Those who fail to understand that are totalitarians at heart.